


adopt don't shop

by lovelylogans



Series: croft the dog [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Dogs, Gen, Past Animal Abuse, the sides adopt a pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2020-12-20 16:13:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21059513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelylogans/pseuds/lovelylogans
Summary: The house was divided, alliances were made, and articles were printed and shouted about and waved into faces.Clearly, it wasn’t serious; Patton had sat everyone down and made them all agree that they would be happy to get a dog, cat, or bunny, regardless of the fact that the house had split into teams.Logan and Roman were on Team Dog; Virgil and Patton were on Team Cat, regardless of Patton’s allergies.“Why do you want a cat when you’re allergic,” Logan had demanded exasperatedly on more than one occasion, and Patton shrugged, beamed, and declared, “I like cats!”





	adopt don't shop

**Author's Note:**

> thepoolofthedead asked: First of all congrats on the followers! Second could we get a fic of the sides at a shelter arguing over what animal to get?  
lovelylogans said: thank you so much! and yes, you certainly can! a bit of a tangent here: i actually volunteered quite a bit at an animal shelter a while back, and, ah, you’ll see a bit of my personal bias come through on this one. just a little. just a l ittle

The house was divided, alliances were made, and articles were printed and shouted about and waved into faces.

Clearly, it wasn’t serious; Patton had sat everyone down and made them all agree that they would be happy to get a dog, cat, or bunny, regardless of the fact that the house had split into teams.

Logan and Roman were on Team Dog; Virgil and Patton were on Team Cat, regardless of Patton’s allergies.

“Why do you want a cat when you’re allergic,” Logan had demanded exasperatedly on more than one occasion, and Patton shrugged, beamed, and declared, “I like cats!”

Virgil’s primary method of warfare was spamming their groupchat with adorable kitten gifs; Patton just tended to ramble on and on about how soft and fluffy and cute and fuzzy and _et cetera et cetera_ cats were. Logan was the main article printer, and Roman tended to passively leave on the TV with clips of Lassie and Air Bud looping throughout the day.

But the day arrived, and though the shelter attendant seemed surprised when they said they were trying to adopt one or the other and still hadn’t decided, nodded professionally.

“Flip a coin to see which we visit first,” Logan said, not bothering to look over at the cages where bunnies were flopping all over the place.

Virgil and Roman faced off, and with a loud “HA!” it was clear to see who had won.

“Dogs first,” Logan and Patton chorused, Logan perhaps a bit more smugly.

“All right, follow me,” the volunteer said, and gestured to a massive container of hand sanitizer. “If you’d just sanitize your hands, we’ll start off looking at the puppies...”

All four of them did as the volunteer said, and followed the woman to the back of the room, hearing barks and howls and the soft cooing and cajoling of other volunteers, sidestepping eager dogs on leashes heading out for their walks of the day.

“Okay, here we are!” The volunteer said, gesturing to the squeaky puppies, all flopping over themselves to press their noses against the gaps in the glass.

“_Hello,”_ Patton whispered, voice soft, staring at all of them, and the volunteer began explaining their breeds, pointing to each separated litter and talking about their ages. Roman and Logan peeked over Patton’s shoulders as Virgil crouched down, looking at the puppies in the lower kennel, and as the volunteer stepped and the other three followed, Virgil stayed put.

“Virgil?” Patton prompted, glancing at where Virgil was smiling, a soft little smile, fingers pressed gently against the gap in the glass.

“I... I think he likes me?” Virgil said, hesitant, and looked to the volunteer, who smiled.

“Poor little guy,” she said, crouching down as Patton doubled back, crouching beside him.

“Why poor little guy?” Patton asked, hushed, but then the puppy stood up, hopping on his three legs.

“Oh, my goodness,” Patton murmured, “oh, sweet little thing—”

“We’ve been calling this little guy Duke, but he’s so young, he doesn’t really realize it’s his name, and of course whoever adopts him is free to change it,” the volunteer said, as Logan and Roman doubled back.

Logan, pointedly nudging Roman in the ribs and nodding towards Virgil’s face, murmured, “I think he’s about to be swayed to our side.”

The woman was wiggling her fingers in front of the glass, smiling that same little odd smile. “Duke and his sister, we think, were rescued from a dog fighting ring. We don’t know how he lost his leg, but it’s probably because—well, because of the fighting ring. His leg had an infection, and his sister had pretty bad heartworm when we found them, and, well...”

Patton’s lower lip was trembling. “She died?” He whispered.

“We did as much as we could,” the volunteer said, soft. “He’s a pretty nervous little guy, he hasn’t warmed up to someone as much as he has to you—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Virgil,” Virgil said, not taking his eyes off the dog. “Can we... can I pet him?”

Roman, unsubtly, punched Logan in the shoulder. “_We’re getting a dog, we’re getting a dog, we’re getting a dog—”_

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “Lemme just get him out of here, and—just down this aisle, there’s a little play room, if you four could wait in there...?”

Virgil, hesitantly, drew his hand away from the glass, and allowed Logan to pull him to his feet.

“Who’d do that to a cute little dog like that?” Patton asked, upset, and Roman wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“I know, buddy,” he said, leading him to the playroom. “And since he’s a pitbull—”

“Wait,” Virgil said, “wait, what do you mean, _since he’s a pitbull?_”

Logan stepped in, and said, opening the door to the playroom, “Though each dog breed has their advantages and disadvantages, of course, as pitbulls and other bull breeds have been unfairly targeted.” 

“Targeted how?” Patton asked.

“There’s breed-specific legislation that ban or restrict dogs by breed, typically pit bulls,” Logan said. “None here, thankfully. But other dogs—rottweilers, dobermans, chows—they get affected, too.”

“Yeah, but why?” Virgil asked, looking to Logan, who straightened his tie and continued.

“A lot of bulls are bred to be fighting dogs, historically, so some don’t do well around other dogs. Most breeds get lumped into the problem because of how they _look,_ not how they _act._ Bulls are very fond of people, usually, unless they feel threatened or they were poorly socialized. They’re usually pretty well-tempered, but because they’re bred to fight—”

“Bulls get a bad rep,” Roman finished. “They’re a bit tough to train, but they’re good dogs, loving and loyal. They need a lot of exercise, and we just need to train him well. That’s all.”

They all settled on the floor, glancing towards the door. It only took a couple minutes before the volunteer was walking in, puppy in her arms, who started squirming excitedly as soon as he laid eyes on Virgil. She laughed, and set him down as the puppy ran-hopped straight for Virgil, eagerly licking at Virgil’s face. 

“_This is so cute I’m going to die,”_ Patton whispered, staring, as Virgil, laughing, tried to tilt his head so the puppy wasn’t licking his mouth. His words seemed to draw attention, and the puppy skittered to Patton, shoving his nose into Patton’s hand before starting to lick at his face, and Patton fell onto his back, giggling, petting the puppy’s sides.

Logan, smiling just slightly, turned to the volunteer. “I think I should probably request we put in the paperwork for him. Am I agreed?” He asked, turning to the other three, who were all busy crooning as the puppy hopped and spun and bounced amongst their laps.

The volunteer laughed, and clapped Logan on the shoulder. “I’ll bring you the info.”

**Author's Note:**

> [this is their thicc boi](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/83/65/3f/83653f9fa3617296b885878b73e7de40--tripod-jax.jpg), fully grown, and i’d be so super open to writing a sequel to this i might just do it of my own free will


End file.
